Xyron is proud to sponsor Second Saturday Kids' Crafts at the
Fascinate-U Children's Museum in Fayetteville, NC. So once a month Don and I tricky trot ourselves on down there for a fun and easy kids' craft. It can be a challenge trying to find something that will appeal to toddlers and teens alike - but we have a blast, and last time we were there we went totally old school and made PINWHEELS! It is SO SUPER easy and inexpensive to put together - and coloring their own pinwheels allows each child's individuality to shine through which of course we totally love. Scroll down to the bottom of the blog post to tell us about your favorite "back in the day" craft project and win some fabulous prizes!
Want to make these for a centerpiece or other home decor/party idea? Use double sided patterned paper and a small nail (to hold the heavier paper in place). Simply bend the nail flat on the other side of the skewer and cover the nail head with a button!
Supplies:
construction paper
crayons
scissors
WRMK Crop-A-Dile (or hole punch)
wooden bbq skewers
push pins
Cut construction paper in to squares and fold on the diagonal (so you will have an X pattern through the center of the paper).
Let the kids color to their hearts' content...don't forget to do both sides!
Cut at the diagonal folds to about 1.5" from the center.
Punch one hole per corner. Choose the same side of the cut corner for all holes (you only want one hole punch per "triangle").
Fold the punched corner pieces in towards the middle.
Secure with a push pin.
Press firmly in to wooden skewer - leaving room for the pinwheel to spin.
Take a deep breath and blow!
Don and I had SUCH a good time with this fun and easy project - and many of the parents said it brought them back to their childhoods as well. Tell us about your favorite "old school" project - either one you did as a kid or one you do with your own kids/grandkids - and one lucky winner will receive a fabulous prize pack containing paper packs from
DCWV,
Colorbok and
Core'dinations, and a
Mega Runner and
1.5" create-a-sticker from Xyron!
I'll announce the winner on my FB page tomorrow morning - Happy Thursday everybody!
I love pinwheels and just made a few tiny ones for a project. Love Colorbok too...they're papers are awesome! I scrapbook with my granddaughter any chance we get. I would love to teach her how to make pinwheels if she hasn't already with her scout troop.
ReplyDeleteKids love pinwheels and so does the kid inside of me. Looks like you all had fun.
ReplyDeleteAhhh....pinwheels! I remember when I was a kid, and I was taken to Coney Island(Brooklyn,NY) by my grandparents. They would buy me one and I;d watch it spin....My favorite craft project as a child was making cards! The construction paper, glue, scissors...oh what happiness! Who new it would bring the same joy as an adult, but with better supplies! ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea for kids of all ages! Thanks for the idea and the great opportunity to win, I used to love making things with egg cartons or paper towel rolls! Still do! LOL
ReplyDeletePotato stamps - cheap and easy and the kids (now the grand-kids) get to create wrapping paper for gifts. I use a roll of 24" wide white easel paper, but if you prefer more rustic you can find it in kraft paper also.
ReplyDeleteMaking the old fashion "clay" with flour and water. Lots of good memories.
ReplyDeleteI loved melting crayons together and making shapes with them. I love to color with them after as well.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHAHA. My favorite project that I made as a kid was a chicken costume for a class play. We were putting on a play and we had to make our own costumes... I recall making a template that resembled a feather. I traced and cut all the feathers out of white crepe paper and glued them on to a brown paper grocery bag. I was 9 years old so that worked well for a body. lolol Then I took a medium paper bag and cut eye holes and glued more feathers on to the bag to cover the whole thing. I used yellow construction paper for the beak. lolol I can't recall the name of the play, but I can recall it took what seemed like forever to cut out and glue all those feathers into place. lololololol I loved that costume. Thank you for the memories. lol :)
ReplyDeleteUs kids, there were 4 of us, always made cards for any birthday or holiday that came up. Mom always had construction paper, crayons, kids safety scissors and Elmer's glue on hand for us. It helped that we had a crafty Mother.
ReplyDeletemy favorite childhood project was hand sewing clothes for my baby dolls with my grandma...i was 4 years old when i made my first item of clothing for my baby doll named giovanni
ReplyDeleteLove pinwheels. My grandkids had some and they set them out along the sidewalk. They loved watching them turn in the wind. Will have to try to make some with them.
ReplyDeleteMaking hand string mazes was a favorite, besides jumping rope with multiple ropes. What find times these were!
ReplyDeleteI think you can never go wrong making macaroni/pasta jewelry! That just never gets old. Thanks for another great giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI used to love making paperbag book covers for my school books. Then I could spend the rest of the year drawing on them and decorating them.
ReplyDeleteBack in the day ... I could make a village, castle, house, boat etc. out of cardboard boxes! And, it was the "money" if I could ever haul a refrigerator box home! Those were the days!
ReplyDeleteI loved making handprint and hand-tracing pictures. Probably the most "famous" is the hand print turkey!
ReplyDeleteMia Everette
ReplyDeleteMy favorite all time kid craft must have been a plate I made for my mom. She was sick in the hospital and my grandparents were taking care of us. I was five years old, and we made these ceramic plates. We got to draw in color on the plates whatever we wanted. I remember drawing a rainbow and a sun over our house with my mom, and I holdinf hands. (I left my brother and sister out of the picture- the plate was only so big :+) ) Then on Mother's day, 1980 we got to visit momma in the hospital and I brought her my plate. That was the first gift I ever gave her, that made her cry tears of joy. She was able to come home withus soon after. I like to think it was my sun shiny plate that brought her home so soon. She had it for a very very long time before the enamel began chipping away. But as long as she had it, she ate off of Her very own plate. :+)
PAPER DOLLS!! :) Used to cut stuff out all the time!! That and making string eggs by wrapping wet, starchy yarn in all colors around a balloon & letting it dry before popping the balloon. Still love how those turned out! :) Anything crafty & I was there, though...started embroidery when I was 5 years old! :)
ReplyDeleteI must have been a strange kid...but, I used to go wonder around and find items all over from different grasses and rocks and flowers, then attack old magazines and find pictures and make a whole staged picture using {mixed media} who would have known I would love scrapbooking later in like...lol!
ReplyDeleteI also did love toliet paper rolls and such...
Perfect timing. My 6 and 8 year old grand nephews have early dismissal from school tomorrow. They will arrive at my house at noon to work on Mother's day projects. We are going to make a book and decorate dominos. But I am going to let each of them make pinwheel flowers for a floral display for their Nana (my sister) and their mother. Fabulous idea. I know that this is not what yuou asked about but I did want to share with you. Just your encouragement to think and do makes a different in our lives.
ReplyDeleteWe made Popsicle stick boxes and then painted them. I loved doing that. I think I made one for every household in our small community. Childhood memories...Love them. :)
ReplyDeleteMaking paper chains to put on the Christmas tree and making necklaces out of gum wrappers.
ReplyDeleteMy mother was always doing crafty projects and learned much from her. I now love crafting and baking with my grandchildren. Every holiday and inbetween. Made pinwheels as decorations for my daughter's baby shower. Had loads of fun doing it.
ReplyDeleteI loved making home made piñatas back in Mexico with my grandmother!!! We made the glue out of flour and hot water. Great memories!!! thanks for the chance to win.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite was cutting out snowflakes and decorating the windows with them at Christmas time! I still love them. Everyone is so unique!
ReplyDeleteOne memory I have of a childhood craft was actually a "business" venture my sister and I had where we made friendship pins out of safety pins and tiny beads and ribbon barrettes made by braiding ribbon through the barrettes. We gave away more than we sold and we started a trend at our school with all the girls. Fun stuff!
ReplyDeleteI remember making muffin tin crayons - melting down all the bits and pieces of old crayons to make new, colorfully swirled ones! I plan to do this with my kids soon, we are collecting a quite a container full of crayon pieces!
ReplyDeleteWe used to have fun making handpuppets out of lunch sacks!
ReplyDeleteWe didn't do anything crafty when we were little - my mum used to bake with us to keep up occupied.
ReplyDeleteAt school we used to make awesome crafts! My favorite still is sock puppets - silly buttons, old socks and anything else you can think of to make funny faces - it was great.
ReplyDeleteMy Grand kids love making play dough out of flour,water and salt.We put food color in for hours of fun!
ReplyDeleteI still remember those cards!! I always made cards and collected them without giving them to anyone.
ReplyDeleteThat made me think about the paper airplanes that my Polish Grandpa used to make for us, I have such fond memories of him! Thank you for making me remember those moments.
ReplyDeleteThe one I remember the most is all the kleenex flowers we made for mothers day. Loved making them and still do!!!
ReplyDeleteAn old school project I still love is texture rubbing with crayons. Taking the kids, crayons and paper and discovering what we can find is fun!
ReplyDeleteHow super cool is this. I remember making this in school and then my kids helped me make lots of crafts and then as teens used my crafts for school projects.
ReplyDeletethank for chance to win.
abbraddock@msn
Those pinwheels are so adorable! I will have to try that with my kiddos! :-) My all time favorite craft to do is to make snowflakes in the winter. Now I like to add glitter glue to them to give them a little bit of sparkle**
ReplyDeleteAdorable pinwheels. I would have to say that my most remembered craft as a child was making mini Oscar the grouches from green pompoms and film canisters.
ReplyDeleteI always loved making things as a kid. You name it, I loved it. Origami, sewing, candle making, paper planes, macrame, etc. Since I don't have kids of my own, I enjoy doing paper crafting with my nieces. The last time I visited my family, I had to make some candy jar labels for a wedding. My 4- and 6-year old nieces got the scraps to make their own cards. I helped my older niece make cards for her friends. There was one card she kept mentioning as being a special card, so I thought she was making it for an older neighbor girl she often plays with. She surprised me by giving me that card with 2 one dollar bills folded up into little bundles (the older neighbor girl helped her write my name on it). I was the only person to receive such a special card (and money!) and it filled my heart with joy knowing she had intended to make that card for me the whole time.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I did as a child and still use as a craft with the kids at church is making "stained glass windows" using acetate sheets & small bits of crepe paper.
ReplyDeletemy favourit craft to make when I was little was paper dolls. I would cut out the body in construction paper. the clothes would be cut from any scraps of my moms leftover cloth or old clothes. Sometime some old catalogues...I would play for hours...I also used to love using egg cartons to make things like bugs, and stuff and lets not forget making an apartment from boxes for my Barbie and decorating each room ..lol thanks for the memories
ReplyDeleteOMG!!! I so toally forgot about making pinwheels as a kid!!! Thanks for the reminder! My 2 oldest grandchildren would love to do this!
ReplyDeleteI would have to say that one of my fave things to make as a kid was paper chains! Sounds silly but making paper chains always reminded me that "something wonderful" was coming up! Whether it was for Christmas or someone's birthday....it simply meant happiness!
Thanks for the chance to win!
Sue O
We love to play with the black scratch off sets here. you know . . . the ones that reveal the multi color underneath? Hours of fun!!
ReplyDeletelove your pinwheel tut - I'm currently designing a pinwheel card ! My favorite thing to make when we were little was God's Eyes made from twisting yarn around sticks, and when I got older, I turned to embroidery, crochet and then cross stitch. I love to have a project I can carry around...wish I could do more of my papercrafts on the fly !
ReplyDeleteI love pinwheels, cute idea!
ReplyDeleteThese are so fun to make. We put them in the backyard and watch them all spin.
ReplyDeleteI love the pinwheels! When I was a kid I used to make flowers out of tissue paper and looseleaf paper! I still love to make paper flowers today!
ReplyDeletetumbler！
ReplyDeleteHand painting and making a mess. That was fun!
ReplyDeleteHad to be my macaronni necklace!!
ReplyDeleteI was an only child so I had to entertain myself. During the summer I would set up a play house under the bushes in the backyard and that is where I played most days.
ReplyDeleteI too love pinwheels and they are so easy to make. Last year at my son's wedding rehearsal lunch, I made a bouquet of pinwheels in pink, red and black for a 50's theme. It was so much fun!
ReplyDeleteGood morning, good morning! :) Congrats!!! You are the winner of the Thursday Giveaway! I'm going to shoot you an email as well - but if you'll email me at aintshecrafty@gmail.com with your mailing address we'll get it boxed up and ready to go! Happy Friday!
DeleteMy fondest memory is of a hula hoop, but I liked pinwheels too.
ReplyDeleteI remember making those stripes of paper to make a ring and interlocking them to make a chain, loved doing that as a kid.
ReplyDeleteEveryone loves pinwheels! they make me smile!
ReplyDeleteLove this and will do with my grandchildren. My favorite craft as a child was the construction paper chain for the Christmas Tree.
ReplyDeletemy favorite thing to do was make paper dolls! My daughter loves to make and play with them too :-)
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite memories is when my mom would take our worn down and broken crayons and melt them in muffin tins in the oven to make fat crayons that had so many bits of color in them. We used them to color with and it was a great way to reuse the crayons.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite crafts were sewing and crotcheting as a kid. I was 8 when I learned to sew and make my own simple school clothes, barbie doll clothes and other toys. By 9, my maternal grandmother had taught me to crotchet so I made hats a& scarves. As a result, I love to craft and have learned many crafts throughout the years. During this next year, I hope to learn to Tat like my dad's mother & grandmother. What great times those were.
ReplyDeleteLove the pinwheels! My faves were cutting snowflakes at Christmas time and paper chains. Boy how times have changed!!!7
ReplyDeleteI love to do the craft where we colored with crayons alllll over the paper, then colored it black. Then we scratched a design on it and the colors came through.
ReplyDeleteMy family is really not crafty - in fact they often wonder about where I got my obsession with papercrafts -- but there was one childhood tradition that has become just as important to my family - frosting Christmas cookies. In fact, that's so much fun that we now frost egg shaped cookies for Easter instead of coloring hard boiled eggs.
ReplyDeleteSuch a nice, simple idea! My boys are still young, so I have not let them touch my sewing machine or other various electronic machines that I craft on, but one thing that they love to make is paper sailboats. I learned how from a Curious George book! when I was little!
ReplyDeleteI remember making flower with tissue paper, they where so much fun. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteStefanieH
I remember making pinwheels and tissue paper flowers as kid. Thanks for sharing and the chance to win!
ReplyDeleteWe have made pinwheels in the summer, to put out on the lawn. I did it as a kiddo, and still do it.
ReplyDeleteLast time my 8 year old grandson was here I taught him how to make a pinwheel.Even more fun-he taught me how to make a sail!He loves playing in my craft room and I am thrilled to have a young person who enjoys crafting with me.
ReplyDeletegreat project! I loved to used to make snowflakes as a kid. My sister and I continued to make them even as teenagers (by then we were hoping it would encourage snow days)
ReplyDeleteOMG ...this really brought up some great memories. I made there with my boys every year for our towns Forth of July parade . We all had matching T shirts from Old Navy and our wheels. Thank you for putting a big smile on my face.
ReplyDeleteI have fond memories of making Christmas tree garland out of construction paper with my mother and brothers.
ReplyDeleteI remember making flowers out of tissue paper circles. These were so much fun to make.
ReplyDeleteI sleep below a double deck bed and I enjoyed making colored paper Christmas decorations and hang them above my bed.
ReplyDelete~Luanne
This craft takes me back, I will now have share with my friend. so simple, yet such fun
ReplyDeleteI have two favorite things we made when I was young, popcorn and cranberry garland and May Day baskets. I will have to take the supplies up to my grandchildren and make the pinwheels with them. Thanks for the idea and the chance to win those goodies.
ReplyDeleteSo Cute.... and Kid's Crafts are so important to development....can't wait to see what's next!!
ReplyDelete--Robin
love the pinwheels! can't wait to make them with my nieces and nephews!
ReplyDeletethanks so much for sharing.
Anne
What a great easy project and fun, I have been wanting to go to our public library and volunteer to do crafts with the kids, wold be fun.
ReplyDeletecathyplus5.blogspot.com
Great reminder for such an awesome old time project! I will make these in the fall with a class of children as an art project. If only the little ones today would do more crafts and less IPAD games, they would have far less problems. Creative play is the KEY!!Thank you for sharing such a wonderful tutorial...
ReplyDeleteCreative Wishes,
Claire S.